Polk an Eager Audience as Theaters Progress Through Ages

Friday

Jun 14, 2013 at 12:00 AMJun 14, 2013 at 12:22 AM

Long before multiscreen, stadium-seating theaters took over, drive-ins were the place to see a movie. Now, viewers flock to big, multi-screen megaplex theaters to see the latest summer blockbuster spectacle.

By MATT REINSTETLETHE LEDGER

Long before multiscreen, stadium-seating theaters took over, drive-ins were the place to see a movie.Holly Slama Hynds, 52, grew up in South Lakeland during the 1960s and 1970s, and Lakeland Drive-In on South Florida Avenue was her go-to movie theater.On Friday nights, friends would jump into cars and head to the drive-in to see films like "Planet of the Apes" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Some would even hide in the trunk so they could get in for free.Fast forward to today and Lakeland Drive-In is no more. Palm Shopping Center is in its place."I know it's progress, everything is up and coming and you have to stay with the times, but it's still sad to see some of the old things here in Lakeland are gone," Hynds said.Now, viewers flock to big, multi-screen megaplex theaters to see the latest summer blockbuster spectacle.This Thanksgiving, a 12-screen state-of-the-art movie theater is set to open in North Lakeland that will continue to advance the immersion factor of films.Cinemark Holdings is building its 47,000-square-foot theater at Lakeland Square.It will include all the latest amenities: stadium seating, screens reaching both sides of the viewing wall, Real-D 3D, and the Cinemark XD Extreme Digital Cinema. Cinemark XD is the chain's answer to IMAX, featuring wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-ceiling screen, custom-built surround sound and Barco DLP digital projectors.This will be the first time since 2010, when the original Lakeland Square 10 movie theater closed, that there will be two first-run multiplexes ­competing in Lakeland.Cinemark will be up against Cobb Lakeside Village 18, opened in 2005 in South Lakeland, which features stadium seating, digital projection, an IMAX theater and D-Box motion seats.

IN THE BEGINNINGPolk County got its first glance at the world of cinema when the Electric Theatre opened its doors in 1907 on Pine Street in Lakeland.The silent film era was in full swing in the days of the Electric, whose name was later changed to the Edisonian. Movie-going wasn't always a pleasant experience, as the theater reeked of banana oil used to fix film when it broke in the projector.The following years brought the talkies, and theaters started to pop up on Main Streets across America. Attending a performance or screening was an event, an experience, said Jean Bunch, a member of Historic Lakeland Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving Lakeland's architectural heritage. Large auditorium theaters, such as the Polk Theatre in Lakeland, had atmospheric details that provided additional ambiance, such as side balconies with backlights and lights on the ceiling simulating the moon and stars."Today's theaters are perhaps more comfortable, but they don't add any of these extra experiences," Bunch, 69, said.Over time, some of the atmospheric auditoriums would survive, but several smaller theaters would come and go. The Palace Theater on Kentucky Avenue was one of those theaters.Opened in 1925, the Palace was a small theater featuring an orchestra pit and a full stage until it closed in 1950.Now it's the home of Palace Pizza and Hurricane Alley nightclub.Television, Bunch said, caused small theaters to close."People could stay at home and be entertained and not have to go out for a movie," she said.Robert Spadoni, an associate professor of film studies at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said a lot of theaters around the country in the 1950s and 1960s fell victim to gentrification, as families moved to suburbs. Some tried to convert to live theater spaces, but that often didn't work because of small backstage areas. "The truth is a lot of them are gone, never to return," Spadoni said. "And it's really only now kind of a distant hindsight that they were cultural treasures and architectural wonders, but it's too late."Of the remaining Polk movie houses of this era — Polk Theatre, Ritz Theatre in Winter Haven and the Ramon Theater in Frostproof — only the Polk shows films on a regular basis.

THE OUTDOOR ALTERNATIVEIn the 1940s and 1950s, Polk County residents found a new way to view movies — from behind the steering wheel of your car.In 1948, the Silver Moon Drive-In opened in Lakeland. Tickets to get in were 35 cents.Soon, almost every town in Polk County had a drive-in theater. It didn't take long before Lakeland was home to three, adding Lakeland Drive-In in 1950 and Filmland Drive-In on Lakeland Hills Boulevard in 1953. Floyd Theaters, which operated the Lakeland drive-ins, also operated Winter Haven's Havendale Drive-In, Auburndale's Dale Drive-In and Haines City's Lake Haines Drive-In.Those who went to the drive-in loved seeing films on 62-square-foot screens with no rules on how you actually watched the film."It's more free, you weren't restricted to sitting in a seat and being quiet," Hynds said.People would watch sitting in cars, on blankets outside or even on the roofs of their cars.By the early 1980s, drive-ins started to close because of the popularity of multi-screened movie theaters. Others sold the land to developers. Now the Silver Moon is the only drive-in open in the county and one of seven still operational in Florida.Harold Spears, owner of the Silver Moon and Joy-Lan Drive-In in Dade City, spent $200,000 in 2011 to convert the Silver Moon to two new digital projectors and upgrade the sound system.Spears said he saw the film industry moving to digital distribution of movies and wanted to get a jump on it."Thirty-five millimeter film will be gone by the end of 2013. In other words, if you don't convert this year, you're going into another business," Spears said.While rolling with the times, the Silver Moon wants to keep one thing the same — affordable ticket prices. The current admission is $4 for adults and $1 for ages 4 to 9. Spears said he wants to give people from all walks of life a way to have a fun night out during tough economic times.From time to time on the weekends, Spears said, he'll have a Lakeland resident drive through his gates discovering the Silver Moon for the first time. But some are longtime locals or children of those who went to Silver Moon in their youth."We took our children to the Silver Moon when they were little, and they actually go as adults to the Silver Moon," Hynds said. "They still carry that out because they enjoy a lot of the same things about being able to sit outside and watch the movie."Film fans from as far as Orlando, Kissimmee and Clermont will drive to Lakeland to get that authentic drive-in experience."It's amazing how far they will come," Spears said.

STAYING RELEVANTAs drive-ins began going dark, people still flocked to the movies.The 1960s and 1970s brought in small, two-screen movie theaters in strip malls, such as Grove Park Twin Cinema in Lakeland or Continental Mugs & Movies in Winter Haven.In the 1980s and 1990s, Polk was introduced to the megaplex, featuring several screens showing films at the same time. Megaplexes currently open around the county include Cobb Grand 10 in Winter Haven, Regal Eagle Ridge Mall 12 in Lake Wales and Cobb Lakeside Village 18 in Lakeland. By 2010, movie theaters were forced to phase out film projectors in favor of digital distribution to provide a higher visual quality and to save money on distributing multiple reels of film. Gone is the skill of splicing a film from multiple reels into one giant roll on a platter. Now, films come on computer hard drives and get loaded into a central computer and programmed to play at a precise time.In addition to going digital, megaplexes have added several features to the viewing experience, such as IMAX (Image Maximum) screens, 3D and motion seats to bring people to the theater. All these features designed to help immerse viewers into the film come with a cost. A base adult ticket is $10, seeing it in 3D will cost an additional $3, $5 for IMAX. But whether the additional features are worth the money depends on whom you ask. Spadoni said he thinks 3D doesn't add or take away from a film, except the surcharge, and IMAX doesn't add anything."Once you shut the lights, you can't tell how big the screen is," Spadoni said. "You have to sit a certain distance from it to see it, if it's a smaller screen you have to sit close or a larger screen and you have to sit way back. It's the same size, all things considered." Is Lakeland large enough to handle two mega-theaters?"I think we're a little concerned, but we still feel Lakeland is a big city so it's enough room for two theaters," said Marcus Vonador, assistant manager at Cobb Lakeside Village 18. Movie-goers, on the other hand, are glad to have more options. Candace Brown, 21, goes to Cobb Lakeside Village 18 several times a month but said she'd exclusively go to the new theater once it opens because it'll be closer to her home."It'll probably get more people (going to the movies) due to the fact that there will be one on each side," Brown said. Which is precisely what theaters want.According to the Motion Picture Association of America, U.S./Canada box office revenue was $10.8 billion, up 6 percent compared to $10.2 billion in 2011 and up 12 percent from five years ago. Although the movie-theater industry continues to make money, it still faces growing competition with the addition of viewing movies on tablets, smartphones and instant streaming from the Internet. While convenient and less expensive, viewing films on small, hand-held screens takes away the social aspect of seeing a film in a theater setting, Spadoni said. "One of the ways viewing has changed, I think, unfortunately, is the viewer has changed and we are constantly distracted more now than ever," Spadoni said. "So whether or not films can hold us in the traditional venues is an interesting question."

[ Matt Reinstetle can be reached at matt.reinstetle@theledger.com or 802-7533. Follow Matt on Twitter @LedgerMatt. ]